Katie Joyce, former public policy panel member (2020-2022)
Provide us with a brief description of your job: Nutrition Coordinator at Fridley Public Schools. Development of menus, testing new recipes, management of special diets, maintaining nutritional services social media.
What do you love about what you do? I love serving foods that students get excited about and makes them want to eat school lunch as well as partnering with local farmers and food producers to serve food that is locally sourced.
What are the challenges? Supply chain issues still continue to be an issue. Due to the guidelines for National School Lunch Program, having certain items be unavailable can throw off the menu for that week. There has been a lot of improvement since the beginning of the school year though!
How has your MAND membership benefited you? I have learned so much about public policy and how it related to my career field from the MAND public policy panel. I learned not only about how our local and national government works, but also how much nutrition practice can be affected, both positively and negatively, by legislation. I have been able to attend the Day at the Capitol with MAND twice and it is such a good experience that everyone should do at least once!
What do you think is the future of nutrition and dietetics? I think we need to emphasize getting more BIPOC and LGBTQ people into the field. We’ve all seen the statistics of dietitians and it’s pretty homogenous. Our profession as a whole is not a good representation of our community at this point. Food and nutrition is a personal and sensitive topic to many people, and I think without a wider variety of dietitian backgrounds there could be many people who don’t receive the nutrition help they need because there isn’t a dietitian they can see themselves in.
What are your favorite activities/hobbies? Cooking, doing embroidery, painting water color, and going to antique shops with my best friend
What is your favorite restaurant in Minnesota? Pimento Jamaican Kitchen – Their slow roasted jerk pork is my favorite meal!
Please share your Instagram handle (and any other social media handles that you would like us to share): @katieclaire2014
About MAND
Minnesota Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (MAND) is an affiliate of the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. We are the largest professional organization of nutrition health professionals in Minnesota, dedicated to optimizing Minnesotans' health through food and nutrition.